Linkin Park

"I've signed enough boobies in my life to be done with boobies... to sign, I mean." - Chester Bennington, of Linkin Park.

The Grammy-winning rockers are the face of nu-metal, single-handedly revitalizing the genre with their debut release, Hybrid Theory. Even if you haven't seen their innovative videos on MTV, you've likely heard their songs in films such as The Matrix Reloaded, Dracula 2000 and Little Nicky.

MAGNETISM

When you're rich and famous, your magnetism is virtually assured. When you regularly hang out with Jay-Z and Snoop Dogg, it's guaranteed. Therefore, it's hardly surprising that several Linkin Park band members are now off the market.

SUCCESS

Linkin Park have been among the world's most decorated bands since breaking onto the scene in 2000. Their debut release, Hybrid Theory, was the best-selling album of the year, selling 4.8 million copies en route to being certified 10 times platinum. The album's success prompted readers of Rolling Stone to name the group the Best Hard Rock/Metal Band of the Year.

2002 brought even more accolades as Linkin Park won a Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance for "Crawling" and picked up a World Music Award for World's Best Selling Rock Group. The MTV generation was also quick to come on board, and Linkin Park reaped the rewards by collecting two MTV Europe Music Awards for Best Hard Rock Act and Best Group, and an MTV Video Music Award for Best Rock Video for "In The End."

Success continued at an unprecedented rate in 2003 thanks to the hotly anticipated release of Meteora. The chart-topping album sold over 3.4 million copies in the U.S. alone, and netted the group a World Music Award for Best Rock Group and an American Music Award for Favorite Alternative Artist. Their video for "Somewhere I Belong" won a MTV Video Music Award for Best Rock Video and Rolling Stone loaded on the praise once again, designating the group as the year's Best Metal/Hard Rock Band.

Another year and another embarrassment of riches followed in 2004 when Linkin Park won their second American Music Award for Favorite Alternative Artist and picked up an MTV Europe Award for Best Rock Act. The band's video for "Breaking the Habit" also won a MTV Video Music Award for Viewer's Choice.

In 2006, the band entered the recording studio after a brief break from the spotlight to record the album Minutes to Midnight. It sold more than 600,000 copies the first week it came out and, at the American Music Awards that year, Linkin Park won Favorite Alternative Artist.

Rumor has it that yet another album was already in the works as of mid-2008.

Linkin Park Biography

Like many bands, Linkin Park began as a group of friends with distant dreams of making it big. In this case the friends were vocalist Mike Shinoda (born February 11, 1977), guitarist Brad Delson (born December 1, 1977) and drummer Rob Bourdon (born January 20, 1979), and unlike most dreamers, they possessed the talent and drive to turn their dreams into reality.

The trio attended the same high school in Agoura Hills, California, and would frequently gather to hang out and jam. Upon graduation, they expanded their musical circle to include DJ Joseph Hahn (born March 15, 1977) and bassist Dave "Phoenix" Farrell (born February 8, 1977). The group also added vocalist Mark Wakefield to the mix and, by 1996, began laying down tracks in Shinoda's bedroom studio.

linkin park was xero at first

Despite their hard work, the band's music fell on deaf ears and Xero, as they were then known, were never signed. Distressed with the lack of momentum, Wakefield left the band. And that's where the story may have ended, were it not for Shinoda's persistence.

Not wanting to abandon the dream just yet, Shinoda advertised for a vocalist and luckily received interest from Chester Bennington (born March 20, 1976). An Arizona native, Bennington had been the lead vocalist for Grey Daze before leaving the band over creative differences in 1994.

chester bennington joins linkin park

With his high-pitched vocals and frenetic energy, Bennington proved to be a perfect fit. He even suggested the band change its name to "Lincoln Park," after a public park he regularly passed in Santa Monica. When the group discovered the domain name www.lincolnpark.com was already taken, they simply adjusted the spelling to "Linkin Park" instead.

Armed with a new name and a new identity, the boys recorded their debut album, Hybrid Theory. Although crude by their current standards, the album attracted industry interest and by 1999, Linkin Park was signed by Warner Brothers Records to a modest contract.

linkin park releases hybrid theory

Working with top producers, Linkin Park released Hybrid Theory in the fall of 2000, and watched as the positive reviews came flooding in. Rolling Stone magazine called it "12 songs of compact fire," and readers of that magazine voted Linkin Park Best Hard Rock/Metal Band of the Year.

The critically-acclaimed debut went on to become the top-selling album in the U.S., selling over 4.8 million copies en route to being certified 10 times platinum. The band's video for "Crawling" also scored with the MTV crowd and was nominated for two MTV Video Music Awards, including Best Rock Video and Best Direction

Hybrid Theory's phenomenal success resulted in a series of prime touring opportunities and the boys split 2001 between Ozzfest and their own tour, Projekt Revolution. In all, they performed a staggering 324 live shows in 2001.

linkin park releases reanimation

Fortunately, the hard work paid off as the band continued to pick up hardware. In 2002 alone, Linkin Park won a Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance for "Crawling," collected a World Music Award for World's Best Selling Rock Group, won two MTV Europe Music Awards for Best Hard Rock Act and Best Group, and their video for "In The End" won an MTV Video Music Award for Best Rock Video.

Linkin Park made headlines again in 2002, with the release of Reanimation, an album featuring remixes from Hybrid Theory.

linkin park releases meteora

2003 marked the release of the band's next studio album, Meteora. The wildly inventive album pushed the band to its creative limits and featured live strings and piano, complex beats and even Japanese flutes.

According to Shinoda, the album is all about finding yourself. "Each song is about looking within and letting out emotions," he said. The album debuted at No. 1 in the U.S. and UK, and sold over 810,000 copies during its first week of release.

By the time the year was over, Meteora had sold 3.4 million copies, and Linkin Park had won a World Music Award for Best Rock Group and an American Music Award for Favorite Alternative Artist.

linkin park is breaking the habit

The group's continued success led to an invitation to join the Summer Sanitarium Tour in 2003, in which the boys shared the stage with metal luminaries Metallica. The experience led to the creation of a CD/DVD set called Live in Texas.

Linkin Park stayed on the road again for much of 2004, splitting their time between their own Meteora World Tour and as part of Projekt Revolution 2004. Along the way they won an American Music Award for Favorite Alternative Artist, an MTV Europe Award for Best Rock Act, and their video for "Breaking The Habit" won a MTV Video Music Award for Viewer's Choice

linkin park releases collision course

Before the year was up, Linkin Park released Collision Course, a collaboration with Jay-Z featuring mash-ups from Meteora and Hybrid Theory. Like Meteora before it, Collision Course also debuted at No. 1 in the United States.

The group collaborated again with Jay-Z on July 2, 2005, when they performed on the star-studded Live 8 bill in Philadelphia.

linkin park and their album minutes to midnight

Pursuing their own side projects meant that Linkin Park didn't get together to record another album until 2006. Minutes to Midnight was released in May 2007, and it was met with praise by critics and fans alike. Their songs were also used on the soundtrack of the Hollywood blockbuster Transformers.

The band embarked on their Projekt Revolution Tour shortly thereafter.